The Malik Report

Barring any surprises, we should expect no lineup changes or shockers from this afternoon’s “morning” (their time) skates as the Detroit Red Wings and Phoenix Coyotes prepare for tonight’s game (10:30 PM EDT/FSD/FS Arizona/Versus/CBC/WXYT), which is good as I’ve got to head out to ferry the mom to yet another physician’s appointment. Alanah will substitute for a bit and cover anything big, and I’ll provide a “morning” skate set of updates when I return, but in the interim, here are a few Wings-related articles worth reading:

• MLive’s Ansar Khan spoke to the Wings’ players as well as their target, Ilya Bryzgalov, about their desire to put as many bodies between Bryzgalov’s line of sight and the puck as possible;

• All of two games in, Sportsnet’s Mike Brophy states the obvious and suggests that Pavel Datsyuk is the NHL’s leading Conn Smythe candidate;

• The Oakland Press’s Pat Caputo wrote a sort of Game 3 set-up based upon quotes from Saturday’s game;

• ESPN posted some rather obvious thinsg to watch in each and every one of tonight’s playoff games;

• And as far as I’m concerned, the Wings’ defensive issues aren’t a sign of some sort of long-term decline, but Pro Hockey Talk’s James O’Brien both suggests that it’s all but time for Wings fans to panic and uses that dumb “Corsi Number” to suggest that Nicklas Lidstrom and Brian Rafalski are “in decline.” GRR.

About The Malik Report

The Malik Report is a destination for all things Red Wings-related. I offer biased, perhaps unprofessional-at-times and verbose coverage of my favorite team, their prospects and developmental affiliates. I've joined the Kukla's Korner family with five years of blogging under my belt, and I hope you'll find almost everything you need to follow your Red Wings at a place where all opinions are created equal and we're all friends, talking about hockey and the team we love to follow.